End lock for rolling shutters



Jan. 16, 1934. E. F. cRoss 1,943,371

END LOCK FOR ROLLING SHUTTERS Filed March 2, 1931 fiver 72 0f: 1 7 (2757 0919 @MWOCW A Patented Jan. 16, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE END LOOK FOR ROLLING SHUTTERS Application March 2, 1931. Serial No. 519,632 9 Claims. (Cl. 139-56) My invention relates to end locks for fire doors of the rolling shutter type, and has for its object the production of end locks which will cooperate with each other and with other parts in a superior manner.

A rolling shutter is composed of metal slats which hinge together so that they may be wound upon a drum when the shutter or curtain is raised. When the shutter is lowered, the edges thereof travel in vertical guides. The end locks are rights and lefts and are fast to the ends of the slats. Each end lock projects laterally beyond the end of the adjacent slat so as to prevent such slats from sliding longitudinally on their hinges more than a small amount. When the shutter or curtain is raised or lowered, these end locks travel in the guides.

One object of the present invention is to make the end locks cooperate with each other and with the inner walls of the guides so that wind, blowing against the curtain, will not pass to any material extent around the end locks in the channel.

A second object is to make the end locks project laterally beyond the faces of the shutter so that they may run in enlarged parts of the guides while the shutter itself runs in contracted mouths of such guides. By this means, the curtain or shutter is prevented from being pulled out of the guides by a strong wind or by other means.

A third object is to make the end locks so that, as the curtain is wound upon the drum, they will pile upon each other without forcing the curtain to one side or the other, and without causing the diameter of the coil upon the drum to increase in proportion to the thickness of the end look. This is accomplished by making the end locks nest upon each other in the piling operation.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is an elevation of a drum in the form of a spool having collars, and with part of a curtain in section wound thereon;

Fig. 2 is a partial elevation in direction 22 of Fig. 1 and showing one layer of end locks;

Fig. 3 is a partial section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and showing the end locks in reverse direction to the view of Fig. 2, and also showing the slats to which the end locks are fastened.

Fig. 4 is a partial inside view of the ends of two slats with their respective end locks;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an end lock detached; and

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of one guide with curtain and end lock shown in normal position.

The curtain consists of slats 10 which are interconnected in the ordinary manner as shown in Fig. 3. Secured to each end of each slat is an end lock indicated generally at 11. This end lock is a casting and consists of a shank 12 which is secured to the inside of its slat by rivets 13, 0 and a face-or head 14 which is inclined to the plane of the slat at about sixty degrees. The head consists of an offset part 15 which overlaps the oppositely offset part 16 of the adjacent end lock.

The guiding channels 17 are made of metal bent into the form shown in Fig. 6. Such a channel has an interior space 18 large enough to allow the end lock heads 14 to move freely in a vertical direction, and a contractedmouth 19 wide enough to permit the slats to move vertically with freedom, but too narrow to permit the end locks to be withdrawn laterally from the channel. If the wind blows in the direction of the arrow 20 of Fig. 6, the edges 21 of the end locks will engage one wall of the channel 18 and check the flow of air which is more than will leak thru the joint between end locks. If the wind blows in the opposite direction, then the heel 22 will engage the opposite wall and shut off the air current at that place. so At the inside of each end lock where the shank 12 joins the head- 14, are projections 23 which, when the curtain is wound upon the drum, rest upon the heels 22 of the end locks fast to the next inner layer of slats as shown in the upper part 35 of Fig. 1. The thickness of metal in an end lock from 22 to 23 is made slightly greater than the corresponding thickness of the slats themselves so that when the slats are piled upon each other by winding up the curtain, the weight will be carried by the end locks. This leaves a small open space 24 between slats.

The thickness from 22 to 23 is also related to the angle of the head 14 and the thickness of the metal in the head so that, when one layer is piled upon another, there will be left an open space 25 i as shown in the upper part of Fig. 1. This open space is to provide for slight variations in the distance between end looks at one side of the curtain and the end locks at the other side. Also, to prevent wedging and consequent friction of the end locks on each other when the outer locks rest upon the inner ones.

The drum for carrying the curtain is in the form of a barrel 26 having flanges 27 provided with gear teeth for turning the spool. On the barrel are collars 28 for supporting the slats of the shutter and leaving space for the inward projection of the heads of the end locks. Making the heads of the end locks so that there are small on the same slat; and to prevent the possibility of an end lock being caught in the gear teeth when the curtain is wound up, the inner faces of the flanges are beveled as shown at 29.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with the slats of a rolling shutter, of end locks secured to the slats at opposite edges of the shutter, said end locks having inclined heads extending a material distance beyond one face of the slats so that upon the shutter being wound upon a drum, the heads of adjacent layers will nest together.

2. The combination with the slats of a rolling shutter, of end locks secured to the slats at opposite edges of the shutter, said end locks immediately beyond the ends of the slats being thicker than the slats and the outer faces of said'end locks beyond said thicker part extending outward at an incline.

3. The combination with the slats of a rolling shutter, of end locks secured to each end of each slat, said end locks having wide headswith offset portions so arranged that the offsets of end locks on adjacent slats of the shutter overlap each other to produce wind resisting joints.

4. In combination with a drum and shutter guides, a rolling shutter composed of a series of slats hinged together, and end locks on the opposite ends of each of said slats, said end looks overlapping each other and engaging their guides to form wind resisting joints within the shutter guides, and successive layers of end locks nesting together when the shutter is wound upon a drum.

5. In combination, a rolling shutter composed of a series of slats hinged together, and end locks secured to the opposite ends of each slat, said end locks having means by which end locks on adjacent slats in the shutter overlap each other when in a guide and end locks on slats remote from each other overlap when wound upon a drum.

the end locks of successive layers will nest together when the shutter is wound upon the drum.

7. The combination with a rolling shutter composed of aseries of slats hinged together, a barrel supporting the shutter and provided with means by which it may be turned so that the shutter may be raised and lowered, and shutter guides having enlarged interior spaces and contracted mouths,"of end locks secured to opposite ends of each slat and having mutually overlapping heads of a size which will pass freely in the enlarged interior spaces but not thru the contracted mouths, and having edges which contact one side or the other of the interior of the guides to make wind resisting joints as a result of wind pressure on one side or the other of the shutter.

8. The combination with the slats of a rolling shutter, of 'vertical guides for the edges of the shutter, said guides having interiors larger than the spaces in which the edges of the shutter move, of end locks secured to opposite ends of each slat of the shutter, the end locks on adjacent slats overlapping each other so as to make substantially wind tight joints along opposite edges of the shutter, said end locks moving in the enlarged interiors of the guides and being larger than the spaces in which the edges of the curtain move.

9. The combination with a rolling shutter composed of a series of slats hinged together, of end locks secured to the opposite ends of each slat, said end locks being thicker than the thickness of the shutter, the adjacent end locks overlapping each other when the shutter is unrolled', of guides having enlarged interiors for the passage of end locks and contracted mouths for the passage of the shutter.

' EARL F. CROSS.

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